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Ex-sTec Exec Faces Trial on Insider Trading Charges

Former sTec Inc. Chief Executive and Chairman Manouch Moshayedi is set to go to trial this week as he faces insider trading charges levied by the Securities and Exchange Commission.

The SEC has charged him with violating anti-fraud provisions of U.S. securities laws and seeks a final judgment ordering him to relinquish any trading profits and to pay prejudgment interest and financial penalties. It also seeks to permanently bar him as an officer and director of any registered public company.

The civil charges, first filed in July 2012, allege Moshayedi withheld “critical nonpublic information” that was likely to negatively affect the company’s stock price and a secondary offering that was scheduled to coincide with its second-quarter financial results and its third-quarter revenue guidance in 2009.

A deal announced in July 2009 with sTec’s largest customer, EMC Corp. in Hopkinton, Mass., helped boost sTec’s stock price prior to the public offering. EMC agreed to buy $120 million worth of ZeusIOPS drives from sTec in subsequent quarters.

The SEC alleges that Moshayedi learned but failed to disclose that EMC decided to lower its purchase order and that the deal would be the last supply agreement between the companies. The commission said Moshayedi proceeded with the stock sale despite knowledge of such material information.

Manouch and his brother, Mark Moshayedi, made $267 million from the sale before expenses, according to investigators.

The SEC didn’t file charges against sTec or Mark Moshayedi, who took over the top post in September 2012 after Manouch resigned his leadership roles at the company.

Manouch Moshayedi has denied the SEC charges against him.

The trial is scheduled to start with jury selection May 20 and will be heard by Judge James Selna in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California in Santa Ana.

The company, which makes solid-state drives that use chips instead of spinning disks to store data, was acquired last year for $340 million by Irvine-based Western Digital Corp.

Investor Forum Set

Irvine nonprofit organization Octane is holding its premier investor event this week at the Hotel Irvine Jamboree Center.

Its Technology Investor Forum, formerly known as “VC in the OC,’’ is expected to attract 1,000 people from the technology, life science and clean tech industries to discuss issues affecting the sectors and to hear 14 investor presentations.

The name change reflects Octane’s broadening reach and relationships with angel investors, foundations, strategic partners and large companies beyond OC, according to Chief Executive Matthew Jenusaitis.

“The new name is a more accurate reflection of what we do at Octane,” he said.

Oculus VR Chief Executive Brendan Iribe will keynote the event. The Irvine startup, which developed a breakthrough virtual reality headset, is set to be acquired for $2 billion by Facebook Inc.

Epicor on Block?

Austin, Texas-based Epicor Software Corp., which employs about 150 people at its former Irvine headquarters, is reportedly being shopped by its parent, Apax Partners LLC, according to a report by the Wall Street Journal.

London-based private equity firm Apax acquired Epicor for $976 million in 2011. The enterprise resource planning software maker still occupies about 70,000 square feet at Lakeshore Towers near John Wayne Airport.

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